As we've seen with Dalí, sometimes a little facial hair goes a long way. We know move on (well, perhaps move up?) to a woman with a pair of eyebrows that literally met halfway to hang out with one another. Welcome to the world of Frida Kahlo.
Yet another Surrealist painter, of Mexican heritage, Kahlo lived a life of intense pain and trouble. On that perky note, here's ten things that make paint a better picture of Kahlo that just "the weird lady with the monster unibrow).
1. Pain And Pain And Pain And More Pain! - Frida Kahlo was a survivor of polio as a child, but her medical troubles did not end there. She was caught in a tragic traffic accident at the age of 18, leaving her with a shattered pelvis, rib, spine and collarbone fractures, and foot and ankle injuries. She went through more than 30 surgeries. Frida's painful past is a heavy theme in her work.
2. Throwback - With a line to indigenous Mexican heritage through her mother, Frida fully embraced her Mexican identity and native roots, which also shows up frequently in her art.
3. Selfie - Out of 143 paintings, Kahlo painted 55 self portraits. In case you're wondering...that's a lot. Frida believed that she was her best subject, being that she had spent so much time alone.
4. Comunista Por El Mundo - Frida Kahlo and her husband Diego Rivera were active Communists, becoming friends and throwing parties for the likes of Leon Trotsky, and helping the causes of the Community Party in Mexíco.
5. Like Attracts Like - Frida met her husband Diego Rivera when she was just a school girl. The two married when she was 22 and Diego, 42. While Frida focused on her strongly biographical and symbolic work, Diego became a famous Mexican muralist. Both considered each other the country's finest artist.
6. Honesty is the Best Policy...except for your birthday - Frida valued honesty to oneself above all else. The best evidence of this is in her artwork. While some may consider her work Surrealist, meaning that it paints fantasy or dream images as real, for her the emotions and imagery in the paintings were just a part of life. After all, reality and what we consider "real" is deemed so only based on our unique perspective. Fun fact: for a woman who loved honesty, she faked her birth year (from 1907 to 1910) so it coincided with the Mexican Revolution.
7. Two Way Street - Frida Kahlo was a known bisexual, whose affairs (along with Rivera's) became a significant challenge to overcome in her marriage.
8. Fashion Forward - Frida dressed as often as she could in traditional indigenous Mexican Tehuana costume. Talk about making a statement.
9. Move Over Dalí - Frida's iconic unibrow and mustached upper lip, in line with her beliefs of honesty and self expression, simply enforces a wise adage that the more of "yourself" that you are, the more comfortable and fitting your life is. People will notice this. Would Frida really be Frida without her fearless facial hair? Would Dalí, Cyndi Lauper, Skrillex, Einstein have been as widely talked about if it weren't for their stylistic hair choices? Kahlo is probably the best proof for women that actually embracing any "flaws" just sets you apart in an amazing way.
10. Postmortem Pomp - Kahlo actually was not widely known as an artist until as late as forty years after her death. Today, she is studied and revered by artists and academics alike. In 2001, she became the first Hispanic woman to be featured on a U.S. stamp. If that isn't fame, I don't know what is.
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